OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was not one of the signatories of the letter, but he defended OpenAI’s safety practices and emphasized that the company has not started training GPT-5. 1,100 signatories, including Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak, have called for a pause on developing more powerful AI systems. The open letter argues that AI systems are becoming human-competitive and must be assessed for potential risks. The pause should be public and verifiable, say the signatories. The letter also suggests that if said pause “cannot be enacted quickly, governments should step in and institute a moratorium.”
Signatories argue planning and management levels are insufficient. Unnamed AI labs are in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy more powerful digital minds that no one, not even their creators, can reliably control.